


leaving traces of us down the boulevard

by Nik_Fic



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Asexual Character, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fluff, It's Sarah Rogers and only mentioned in one phrase in the beginning, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Pierce is only mentioned, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Reverse Big Bang Challenge, Road Trips, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, They're all over 18 and nothing under the pants happens anyways, This is my first proper fanfic please no flames !!1!, blink-and-you'll-miss-it past peggy/angie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 13:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14916293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nik_Fic/pseuds/Nik_Fic
Summary: They leave at 9am. Leaving Roslyn is one of the easiest decisions Steve has made in a long while. A road trip in a truck driven by Peggy Carter, Bucky's other best friend, is how he's leaving. He's still figuring out if the decision to spend the next 10 days in a stranger's truck should have been more difficult to make.When three teenagers are cramped together in a car for 10 days, they learn there are more journeys in life than merely physical ones.





	leaving traces of us down the boulevard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [princessoftheworlds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessoftheworlds/gifts).



> I made a playlist you can listen to while you read :^)
> 
> Subdivisions - Ninja Sex Party  
> Too Much Time - John Vanderslice  
> September - Earth, Wind & Fire  
> Well-Dressed - Hop Along  
> Home - One Direction  
> Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver  
> PYNK - Janelle Monáe  
> Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd  
> Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra  
> Take Up Your Space - Sara Watkins
> 
>  
> 
> Peggy's truck

****

 

 

**Welcome to New York**

_July 1st, 2018_

_Roslyn, New York_

 

School has been out for a week. Sarah Rogers has been buried for five days. Steve is turning eighteen in sixty-eight hours. Bucky’s invited himself over. He shows up to Steve’s apartment with a duffel bag containing everything he owns and what cash he could find around the manor his former foster ‘dad’ owned, one he hopefully would never visit again.

 

—

 

“Hey, isn’t your lease up by tomorrow?” Bucky asks him. The two of them are on Bucky’s bed, looking up at the ceiling and listening to whatever album Bucky put on. Steve’s not really present in the moment these days. He nods.

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

“You remember my friend Peggy? She’s leaving on the 5th. There’s nothing left for us in Roslyn.”

 

“Us?” Steve wrinkles his brow and looks through the darkness in the general direction of Bucky’s face.

 

“I’m… I wanna go with her. Alexander doesn’t care; I’m 18 now,” Bucky explains.

 

“Were you gonna tell me?”

 

“I didn’t wanna leave you behind, I wasn’t gonna go.”

 

There’s a silence, not an awkward one, but thoughtful.

 

_There’s nothing left for us in Roslyn._

 

Steve makes a decision.

 

_July 5th, 2018_

 

They leave at 9am. Peggy, Steve assumes, is waiting by an old, beat-up pickup truck. Its exterior is a faded blue backdrop to the ensemble Peggy is wearing; a bright red bralette matching her lipstick with embroidered cutoff, high-waisted jeans. Between her and Bucky, who’s wearing light blue slacks and a cream t-shirt, Steve’s feeling terribly underdressed in his sweatpants and hoodie.

 

Last night, he and Bucky had watched the suburban families on Bucky’s street shoot off fireworks. They’d baked Steve a birthday cake. Nothing fancy, a red velvet cake mix slightly over-baked, with extra frosting to make it easier to ignore the dry sponge. It had been Bucky’s idea, of course, Steve wasn’t one to stay up late unless he could sleep in the next morning. Bucky, on the other hand, didn’t turn into a zombie no matter how little sleep he got.

 

—

 

This day is hot, hotter than New York usually is this time of year, but Steve runs cold when he’s tired, hence the heavy garments he’s put on.

 

Peggy greets him with a nod and a hand shake, greets Bucky with a hug. She opens the front door to reveal an extended truck cab, a row of three seats in the front with a narrow seat row behind it. Following Bucky’s example, Steve heaves his two duffel bags into the back of the cabin. It had surprised him, when he went back to his apartment to collect his stuff, how little space his life took up.

 

In the truck, Peggy takes the driver’s seat, Bucky in the middle, Steve by the window. Although the truck is old and unassuming on the outside, the interior looks well taken care of, and there are three working seatbelts, the middle one looking new and recently installed.

 

“New York City?” Bucky asks.

 

“New York City,” Peggy agrees.

 

Steve hums in half agreement, half dismissal. He’s asleep before Peggy even drives out of Roslyn.

 

—

 

The city is … uneventful. Steve had always dreamed of going with his Ma and Bucky. Maybe Becca. Instead, Steve has been walking around all day with Bucky and Peggy. Peggy has been friendly, but distant. Bucky has been occupied.

 

So now Steve’s the third wheel to a pairing he’s never had any reason to be worried about, his back aches, and he’s not sure this trip was a better option for him than staying in Roslyn. His best friend walks arm in arm with the girl he’s now traveling across the nation with, Steve lagging behind. That’s probably a metaphor for his life, he ponders.

 

**Welcome to New Jersey**

 

At a random gas station on the road through New Jersey, Peggy reapplies her lipstick. She casts a glance over to the passenger seat, where Steve is trying to stay awake until Bucky returns from inside the small, rundown building.

 

Peggy had been living alone in Roslyn for a year. Angie left last summer, and as much as Peggy had wanted to join her in getting away from the small, quiet suburb she had called her home most of her childhood, she was a year younger, still a junior, and … and her parents had always wanted her to finish school. The money they’d left her was enough to cover her expenses until she graduated two weeks ago.

 

Finally, she was going to escape Roslyn. Now these two boys are on the trip with her. Knowing she’d get a no, but still hopeful, she had asked Bucky to come away with her. Her prediction had, unsurprisingly, been correct; Steve was too important to Bucky for him to leave. But now Steve also had a reason to get out of New York, and he was obviously smitten enough with Bucky that he had no qualms about packing up his life and driving across the country in a stranger’s car. And so here she is, sitting in the cabin with Steve, who she only met this morning. They must have something in common, she thinks; after all they’re both close to the same person. Peggy has always coped by taking control of the situation, so she steels herself, pushes aside her stubbornness, and is about to break the silence.

 

Bucky returns then, with the gas bill paid and a sandwich for each of them. She starts driving, the moment of her courage interrupted. She feels it fizzling out with every mile.

 

**Welcome to Pennsylvania**

 

In Philadelphia, everything is calmer, the silence fitting with the surroundings instead of being awkward. The roads are getting longer between each place, the states larger as they travel further west. They find a motel with triple rooms. Bucky pays upfront from the wad of bills he carries with him. He’d decided that now he was never going to see Pierce ever again, no harm would come of him nabbing whatever cash was lying around the house. Pierce would probably rather Bucky took what he wanted and got out of his hair instead of having him in the house any longer.

 

And then they sleep, exhausted by the day that came before.

 

**Welcome to Delaware**

 

They’re only in Delaware for 22 minutes. It’s a quick drive from the end of Pennsylvania to the beginning of Maryland. Still, it feels like they’ve entered a different world. The foliage by the road is green, consisting of massive trees and thick bushes. Wilmington is smaller than Philadelphia, to the point that none of them realize they’ve driven through the most populous city until a roadside sign announces their exit and wishes them to visit again soon. As they near the state border, they drive through a small town. As all three teens take in their surroundings, in the casual manner one does while not fully present, sleepy but not going to sleep anytime soon, they’re all reminded of Roslyn. What they’re leaving behind, and why they’re set to get away.

 

Peggy glances over to Steve’s seat. He’s looking at her, flushes a bit when caught staring and turns his face away. She smiles.

 

**Welcome to Maryland**

 

They enter Maryland at a quarter to nine, and although they’ve barely been on the road for an hour today and just left Roslyn a full day ago, Peggy is restless. Right foot on the gas, her left leg is free to bounce on the carpeted floor in between gear changes.

 

Bucky rests his hand on Peggy’s thigh, sensing that she needs something to ground her.

 

“That sign said something about a wax museum, you wanna stop in there?” He asks. Steve’s curled up to Bucky’s right side, napping it seems.

 

She nods and Bucky takes out his phone to find directions for the place. He knows, and Peggy knows he knows, that she’s got an affinity for wax art and figures. Back in Roslyn, in her tiny room in a distant family friend’s house that she lived in for free, she’d had a small collection of wax figurines she’d made out of candles. In her bag, she’d packed her few tools and the seal she’d created from a wine cork. Roslyn was too small to house anything but an expensive art supplies store.

 

—

 

They pull into the parking lot of the museum half an hour later. Spend some time walking around, reading about specific people and their achievements, finding out why they've been represented in intricate, detailed wax figures.

 

**Welcome to Washington DC**

 

They arrive in the Capital around five in the evening. Peggy once visited with her class, and as soon as they enter the motel she stayed at and recommended for this night, they barely manage to get ready for bed before they all promptly fall asleep. When they leave in the morning, Peggy takes them by the White House. They walk across the lawn, and she has Bucky take her picture, flipping off the building. That’ll fit in great on her Instagram.

 

—

 

When they return after their little venture, Bucky moves their stuff around so he can lie down on the back row. It’s cramped, the truck having only an extended cab, but his frame fits on the leather cushions. He puts in his earbuds and presses shuffle.

 

—

 

Steve yawns and stretches, looks back to check on Bucky, who’s now fast asleep.

 

“Tired?” Peggy asks. Steve shakes his head.

 

“Not really.”

 

“I am. Would you mind taking over?” She nods at the wheel, already indicating to pull over at a rest stop. Steve furrows his brows.

 

“Bucky told me you never let him drive your truck?”

 

She winks at him and comes to a stop. They both exit the truck, Peggy spotting a small building with a single toilet. The lock is broken, so she calls over Steve to stand outside the door, even though there’s no one else around.

 

“You like him right?”

 

“Who?” Steve furrows his brow.

 

The door pushes open and Peggy steps out, fastening the embroidered belt she’s looped through her high-waisted jeans. Today, they match her lipstick, vivid red and sitting tight on her curves. She winks at Steve when she catches him looking, and he feels his skin flushing to match both the lipstick and the pants he’s just been admiring.

 

Once they’ve entered the car, Steve now in the driver’s seat and Peggy closer to him than the passenger window, she glances down at Bucky.

 

“Our friend here.”

 

Steve swallows as he turns the car back onto the interstate. His flush is fading, he can feel his cheeks cooling down, but the topic of the conversation is keeping his skin slightly pink still.

 

**Welcome to Virginia**

 

A light touch on his hand. Bucky opens his eyes and glances down. Man, his double chin must be glorious right now. The hand is soft, gentle, with light blue nails that match the car they’re in. Peggy’s hand. For a moment he’s confused as she’s driving the truck, and with the direction Bucky’s laying on the back seat, the angle Peggy would twist to logically achieve would make driving pretty unsafe.

 

But Steve’s driving the truck. Bucky notices a faint blush on his cheeks and the visible part of his neck.

 

Bucky raises an eyebrow at Peggy, her hazel gaze piercing the layers of his sleep-addled mind. Raises an eyebrow to ask, why aren’t you driving?

 

Not that Bucky doesn’t trust Steve, quite the contrary, but Peggy just met him two days ago and she doesn’t even trust Bucky to drive her baby.

 

Peggy’s not the best at making friends. She’s social if she wants to be, and great at  conversation, very engaging and attentive, but aside from Angie he thinks he’s the only one she’s ever really been close to, at least during her time in New York. Which is why he’s wanted to introduce Peggy and Steve to each other multiple times. It never worked though. They always had an excuse, Steve had dinner with his Ma, Peggy hung out with Angie. And after Angie ditched town when she graduated, a year prior, Peggy hadn’t wanted to get out much. Bucky had tried to keep her social, had come by at least once a week and caught her at lunch whenever they didn’t have electives, but you can’t make a horse drink the water, right?

 

Bucky can feel he’s a little grumpy. They got up at 6:30 this morning because Peggy wanted to leave DC at 7am stat, and since she’s the driver, or at least was when they left earlier, he and Steve had no choice but to follow along. He usually sleeps well, but he’s an empath, and when there’s tension in the air it sets and lingers in his bones.

 

And, well, there had barely been any talking between the three of them outside some short instances of planning when to stop to eat and where to sleep. The dynamic he usually had with both Steve and Peggy was offset and a part of him he would like to simultaneously hide away and listen to regrets that he ever agreed to change up his life so drastically.

 

“We talked in DC,” Peggy explains, “and again while you had a nap. I’m exhausted and my foot was cramping.”

 

“You shouldn’t wear heels while driving,” Bucky tells her, well knowing she won’t listen to his advice. He sits up and rubs the sleep out of the eyes, stretching in the limited space.

 

**Welcome to West Virginia**

 

They enter West Virginia to the melody of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. After hours of nothing but white noise, the old AM/FM radio in the truck picked up a quiet, slightly staticy channel which apparently only plays music created and performed by artists from the state so here they are, listening to all the best music of various West Virginians.

 

**Welcome to Kentucky**

 

Their time in Kentucky consists of driving alongside the Ohio River which makes up the northern border of the state. When they enter from West Virginia, the FM signal fades gradually until the radio apparently gains a mind of its own and the channel starts playing bluegrass, fitting with the area they’re going through.

 

**Welcome to Ohio**

 

Their route takes them through Ohio, where Steve pipes up with a thing for the itinerary.

 

“Can we stop by the American Sign Museum?”

 

And so that’s where they’re going. In Cincinnati, they find that gem of an attraction. Steve, who’s always been a fan of pop art and vivid colours, excitedly drags the other two along as he explores the exhibition.

 

**Welcome to Indiana**

 

Indiana is boring. Nothing but corn fields line the roads, and Peggy’s given up on finding any signal on the radio, white noise making up all the frequencies the device can scroll through.

 

—

 

Leaving Indiana, Bucky spots an exit sign name dropping a place he’s always been curious to see.

 

“I know it’s a detour, but can we go see it? Please?” Peggy gives him a bemused look.

 

“You want to be on the road for an extra 3 hours today, just to see a bland tourist attraction?”

 

He gives her his best puppy-eyed look, and when she turns to follow the signs, Bucky high fives himself.

 

“You’re such a dork,” Steve tells him.

 

“And you aren’t?” Bucky says with a smug little smile. Steve wants to kiss it off him, is overcome by a strong urge to do so in this very exact moment, but then the moment is rudely interrupted by the radio replacing static with a local station’s broadcast.

 

**Welcome to Illinois**

 

“Well,” Bucky announces when they get out of the car after three and a half hours, the last 60 minutes of which were spent listening to nothing but John Mellencamp. “We’re here.”

 

They’re all looking up at The World’s Largest Catsup bottle. It’s… pretty boring, actually. None of them had expected much, but somehow this place failed their expectations all the same. Not that the construction isn’t impressive, many good things can be said about all giant reproductions of classical objects and condiments, but this seems like an instance of a lot of hype and great cameras representing something really not that interesting.

 

They do get their picture taken in front of it, $10 for a photo of them making bored faces with the bottle behind them (though they’re all holding back laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation). They also each get a little novelty key chain with a small version of a giant version of a regular sized bottle. And when they’re driving away, Bucky has them all do a pose that looks like they’re pushing the bottle over. They are on a road trip after all.

 

—

 

Later in the car, Steve’s in the middle seat. The back of his hand pressed up against Peggy’s thigh, Bucky’s head resting on his shoulder, Steve feels like this trip could be something great, after all.

 

**Welcome to Missouri**

 

In Missouri, they pull over at a rest stop. Leaving Indiana, Peggy had ingested copious amounts of coffee. She’s glad she did, because their trip turned out to last longer than it should have. They were never meant to enter Missouri, but here they are. Her new Catsup key chain is in the pocket of her jacket and she twiddles it distractedly as she waits in line for the toilet.

 

—

 

“I just met my soulmate,” Peggy tells them once she returns to the truck. Not waiting for a response, she continues.

 

“There I am, waiting to use a literally shitty toilet that hasn’t seen soap since the Middle Ages, and this woman comes in. I like her hair, did you see her? She had this gorgeous red hair, and so we get talking because the trucker on the loo was taking ages. Turns out, her husband had been cheating on her so she’s going to Vegas to gamble away all his money,” Peggy explains.

 

“What makes her your soulmate?” Steve asks

 

“He was cheating on her, with his _sister_ . And then she asked me to run away with her.”

Bucky’s brows shoot up, seemingly wishing to join his hairline.

 

“So you’re here to tell us we’re going to Vegas?” He asks incredulously.

 

“No, silly. The trucker finished taking his dump and then she jumped on him. She was so drunk i think you could set fire to her breath.”

 

They’re back on the highway by now, Peggy continuing to tell them all the details the stranger had been revealing about her life and the incestuous family of her ex-husband.

  


**Welcome to Iowa**

 

Instead of driving directly to the Sleepy Hollow Camp, Bucky has them go to Cedar Rapids. They find a diner, one where the interior perfectly matches the blue of Peggy’s truck, and have dinner, chatting and enjoying each other’s company. The Catsup trip might have been a detour, but none of them had any issue with how the day had unfolded.

 

Bucky’s last suggestion of the day is to go see a movie. They pick a horror movie, all for different reasons. Peggy picks it because it’s the cheapest showing. Bucky picks it because the guy from The Office stars in it, and he’s always had a weakness for dorky types. Steve picks it because the girl on the poster is wearing a hearing aid.

 

After the lights turn back on, Steve is hiding in Peggy’s shoulder gripping her hand tightly, Peggy is grinning, and Bucky’s jaw has fallen open and won’t shut again. They arrive at the campground still discussing the plot and hypothetical scenarios, animated gestures and passionate remarks paired with toothbrushing and changing into pajamas.

 

—

 

In the privacy the darkness brings, Steve and Peggy have climbed inside the truck cabin. They’re squeezed in the back row, bags and items carelessly tossed into the front seats. Steve in Peggy’s lap, the two trading languid kisses, the sound of their interlocking lips mingling with their heavy heartbeats.

 

The night outside is quiet, Bucky sound asleep in the truck bed. The darkness is like a blanket, bringing comfort and protection on this hot Iowan night.

 

—

 

On Steve’s request, they stop in Des Moines to visit the art center. Much like the Sign Museum they visited two days prior, Steve’s the one most interested in the exhibitions, but while he leads the way around the building, stopping to view artworks every now and then, Bucky feels himself getting restless. He peeks inside a room with an open doorway to where they’re currently standing. Steve’s always liked paintings and drawings the most of any art medium, and Peggy nearly belongs in a horror film with how much she’s into wax figures. Bucky prefers installation art, which this room is full of.

 

He’s walked a lap of the room, read about the different pieces exhibited, when he sets out to find Peggy and Steve. He wanders a bit around, looking, and then he spots the two of them. They’re holding hands.

 

**Welcome to Minnesota**

 

An hour and a half is all the time they have in Minnesota. Driving along the south border, the interstate seems to stretch on forever without so much as a turn in the asphalt.

 

After the art center, the plan had been to go directly to Sioux Falls, check in at a motel, and rest to prepare for a long drive the next day. But the road took them by the Shrine of the Grotto of Redemption in Iowa. Peggy drove them to the location, and Bucky knows she did it for Steve. Steve, who isn’t extremely religious but still carries around a rosary. Steve who adores spiritual art.

 

The Grotto was beautiful, even Bucky can admire it. Though, he can’t silence the jealous voice in the back of his head that tells him Peggy changed things around for Steve, without even having to ask, just observing him as she’s previously only done with Bucky.

 

**Welcome to South Dakota**

 

As they get closer to Sioux Falls, the clouds that have been hanging heavy in the sky let loose. The rain hits the roof of the truck cabin in a steady pattern. The scent of wet asphalt permeates the car.

 

“It’s raining,” Peggy hums. “I didn’t expect that. Sorry Steve, the windows leak.”

 

Steve snorts, the sound of which amuses Peggy. Cute, she thinks. Bucky, still a bit grumpy from Peggy and Steve’s little moment back in Iowa, leans over to get a towelette from the glove compartment; he’s been in Peggy’s truck enough to know she keeps one there in case the New York weather shows its gray side.

 

As Bucky moves, Steve rolls down the window so it rains in on Bucky. The latter’s surprise at the prank results in a look Steve can’t help but crack up at. And suddenly they’re all in fits, getting soaked until Steve remembers to roll the window back up.

 

Then, the hand crank pops off.

 

“Fuck,” Steve blurts out, looking at Peggy, perplexed.

 

“Did it— did it break?” Bucky asks. Steve nods, and the situation sinks in.

 

Their giggling doesn’t subside until they reach the city.

 

—

 

When they woke up this morning, none of them had any idea that corn murals were a thing. But now they’re leaving the motel, passenger side window still stuck open, and Bucky spots a sign advertising The World’s Only Corn Palace, telling the others that he’s not speaking to them ever again if Peggy doesn’t get them there stat.

 

Now they’re here, and it’s spectacular. Murals depicting storms and weather phenomenons common in South Dakota line the outer walls, making the building stand out. The auditorium inside is closed, but there’s a shop with novelty items, not unlike the items sold at the Catsup bottle, although this place is picture perfect and actually all kinds of admirable, unlike the giant condiment container.

 

**Welcome to Nebraska**

 

There’s nothing in Nebraska, at least there hasn’t been for the ninety or so miles they’ve passed already. The three teens are taking turns yawning, Steve by the wheel. Five hours have passed since they left the Corn Palace. They’re not on the interstate at the moment, cutting across the state on smaller roads with cracks in the asphalt and what seems like a hundred potholes per mile.

 

Steve decides he wants to stretch his feet, so by the next rest stop he pulls over.

 

“What is this place?” A groggy Bucky asks him.

 

“Where cars come to die, it seems,” Peggy responds, stretching as she exits the vehicle.

 

On further inspection of the area, Steve comes across a sign explaining the construction, and then he sees the installation for what it is.

 

“It’s Stonehenge but with cars,” he explains.

 

Spray painted cars are littered around the space surrounding the car circle. They end up spending an hour there, breaking into the snack stash Peggy always has in her truck and enjoying the afternoon sun.

 

**Welcome to Wyoming**

 

When they enter Wyoming, they succumb to the pressure of a long time spent on the road. They play I Spy for the whole hour they’re in the state. The challenge, they’ve decided, is not so much guessing what another is spying, but spotting an item or color that hasn’t been mentioned before. In Cheyenne, the game becomes a bit more entertaining as the neverending stretching fields are substituted for modern buildings and people enjoying the hot summer weather. Bucky turns the radio up high, a Cheyenne local channel playing One Direction. All the car windows have been rolled down as far as they can, and they cruise through the city without a care in the world.

 

**Welcome to Colorado**

 

They get to Colorado in the late afternoon and while the plan is to drive straight to the B&B they’ve booked for the night, Denver has posters everywhere of a concert that night at an amphitheatre. So of course they drive there. The concert is fairly boring, the only memorable part when the band begins performing a very intricate linedance and the entire crowd around them joins in, all knowing the choreography. When Steve attempts to give it a go, he stumbles and quite literally falls into Bucky’s arms. As Peggy flawlessly pulls off the dance, the two boys flush the same shade of red and stand on each side of her.

 

She scoffs at the teen angst she senses surrounding Steve and Bucky, but it goes unheard as the song ends and the audience applauds.

 

**Welcome to Utah**

 

Provo is a lovely city. They walk down the streets, entering everywhere that looks interesting, or at least unique. The latter can certainly be said of the Printing Museum they’ve entered. Though the former certainly describes the park they spend the end of the day in. Sat on a bench, Peggy and Steve people gaze while Bucky watches the two of them.

 

—

 

“Took you long enough,” Peggy tells Steve as he slides into her bed, under the duvet, right up against her. Two warm bodies in one bed. Lipstick stains are left on clothes and skin, warm breaths shared in one bed, while the third person in the room lies lonely, watching all he can’t have.

 

**Welcome to Nevada**

 

Nevada is dry. The air is stagnant, although the passenger window is stuck open. The truck has air conditioning, but it’s slow and old.

 

Bucky’s in the passenger seat, gazing out the window, earbuds filling his mind with Pink Floyd and the sweet but melancholic guitar of “Wish You Were Here”.

 

The state seems to stretch on forever.

 

**Welcome to California**

 

In San Francisco, Peggy is done. Bucky has been distant and vacant all day. The weather is beautiful, Steve is beautiful, and while the same sentiment applies to Bucky as well, it’s difficult to see when he’s constantly frowning and withdrawing from touch and conversation. Peggy knows him, knows that Bucky tends to overthink everything. In his mind, she bets he’s avoided introducing her to Steve before this trip because he knew how well they’d get along. And now his suspicions are correct, Peggy has certainly discovered Steve to be a very interesting person both by day and by night, but what Bucky fails to realise is that the world isn’t black and white, and that Peggy’s stuck around him for so long because she knew there was something there.

 

Like all teen boys, he’s being daft and is blinded by silly assumptions. It’s 2018, polyamory exists as a possibility. Remembering her conversation with Steve back in Washington DC, and the conviction in his voice as he’d told her Bucky doesn’t like him, she decides Bucky needs a push.

 

Silly boys.

 

**Welcome to Nevada**

 

They get to Area 51 with some pre-packaged sandwiches they bought at the rest stop advertising itself as the last place to eat before getting abducted.

 

There’s not much to see, to be completely honest. There’s a giant fence and a gate. A security camera follows them, changing directions as they walk around, fanning themselves in the dry Nevadan heat. Bucky’s inside the car, sitting behind the wheel as that’s where the only functioning air conditioning vent is, trying to find any signal on the radio.

 

“You know the government pays for radio manufacturers to not include alien frequencies in their products, right?” Steve tells him, leaning in through the window. The driver’s side window, as the other is still stuck half open.

 

Bucky turns his head upwards to look at Steve, about to come up with a savage retort but, Steve’s closer than Bucky expected, his lips within kissing distance, his eyes so near that Bucky can see all the intricacies of his irises. Bucky feels himself lean in slightly, ready to close the distance and admit his feelings by sealing them between their lips.

 

The gate opens and an armored truck revs past, startling Steve and making him step back. On the other side of the road, Peggy rolls her eyes. They almost had it, she just needs to nudge them a little more.

 

—

It’s the middle of the night. They’re staying at an inn close by the military base, though Steve and Bucky are sleeping in the truck bed. The only vacancy had been a tiny room with a single twin bed, and Peggy had told them her car, her decision.

 

There’s no light pollution this far into the desert, so the stars are the only thing shining down at them, only a tiny bit of the moon visible in its current phase. Both boys are quiet, about to fall asleep but unable to for some tension still lingering in the air. Bucky decides to break the silence.

 

“Did you wanna kiss me?”

 

“What?” Steve answers drowsily.

 

“Earlier, when I was using the radio.”

 

It’s dark, and for that Steve is grateful. He can feel his skin flushing all down to his chest. He swallows and nods.

 

“Y-yeah, I did,” he adds.

 

“How about now?”

 

While Steve’s still thinking about what to answer, he feels Bucky’s hand reach out and fumble around until he lightly holds it around the back of Steve’s neck, his thumb stroking over the blond’s jawline. Mirroring his action from earlier in the day Bucky leans in, and at the same time encourages Steve to do the same with a gentle tug of his hand.

 

Steve blink and pulls away.

 

“Hey, hey, Bucky you don’t gotta— I don’t wanna pressure you into anything.”

 

“Steve.” Bucky levels him with a hard look. “I know myself. I know what I want. You need to close your mouth for once, and let me put mine on it.”

 

While he’s still processing what he just heard, Bucky’s meeting Steve’s lips with his own.

 

“Gonna get… So many damn bug bites…” Bucky tells him between kisses, “out here…”

 

With that statement, Bucky breaks their embrace for a split second to unzip both of their sleeping bags and crawl closer to Steve.

 

“But I thought…—” Steve begins.

 

“I’ve always wanted you, dingus. Making out with you? Definitely something I had on the itinerary.”

 

Those words would make any guy’s heart melt, Steve’s sure of it.

 

The clock ticks closer to dawn. The stars in the night become less visible, until only planets and possible UFO’s glint down at them. The horizon is brightening, the first rays of sun bouncing off the sky and illuminating their faces. They’re grinning

 

—

 

At 4am, Peggy’s had enough. She’s inside the tiny room they rented. She’s still awake, because the mattress is shit, or maybe she’s just gotten used to sleeping alongside two other warm bodies. Probably the latter, if she’s being honest with herself. If those two fool boys haven’t gotten to second base already, she’ll enter the Area 51 base, fight off each and every tank, and steal some alien weapon to hold them hostage until they realize the reason she’s making up these strange hypothetical scenarios is their inability to get it on with each other.

 

She exits the room, bringing along the bags they didn’t want to risk leaving in the cabin overnight. Whispering permeates the still morning air, and then a blond head is peeking up from the bed of the truck, looking well disheveled. A smirk spreads across her face, and she hops up to sit by their feet.

 

As the sun continues its trek, peeking over the horizon line, Bucky and Steve smile when they hear those two words.

 

“About time.”

 

**Welcome to Arizona**

 

It’s around late afternoon when they cross the state border between Nevada and Arizona.

 

The Alement is a small, quaint building in Yuma, just across the border from California. Their timing is perfect for tonight’s show, an up-and-coming band praised in every newspaper in Arizona. Angie’s band.

 

Peggy drags Bucky and Steve into a booth with her. They share it with another group but Peggy doesn’t care. She’s happy there’s a full house.

 

Bright lights flicker on, a single spotlight shining onto the middle of the rickety stage. A hush falls over the bar. Angie starts singing.

 

All of a sudden, Peggy is one year younger, transported into the small loft bedroom of her best friend. Angie performing for her using a hairbrush, preferring the company of Peggy over anyone else, because even though she was a year Angie’s junior, she was the best at giving advice and not sugar coating anything.

 

During the second song, Angie spots Peggy in the crowd and lights up. They’d sung this together. After the show, the crowd applauds and Angie walks off stage to greet some people she presumably knows. Then, when she’s talked with everyone immediately around her, she meets Peggy’s eyes. If there had been enough space to run towards each other in slow motion, they’d do that, but as it is they both take fast paced steps that end in them colliding in a hug.

 

“What’re you doing here Pegs? Don’t tell me you left Roslyn just for me,” Angie says with a grin.

 

“Don’t flatter yourself. I was inspired by you, yes, but I just wanted to get out. I was suffocating,” she explains. Then her smile fades slightly.

 

“I wanted to go with you,” Peggy mumbles into Angie’s styled hair.

 

“And I wanted you to be happy, English,” Angie responds. “Looks like you’ve found some great people to help you out there. I saw how you were all over them in the booth.”

 

Peggy nods, breathing in the scent of Angie’s perfume. She still uses the same as she did a year ago.

 

"You were amazing," Peggy tells her. "You _are_ amazing."

 

"I know," Angie sighs. She presses something into Peggy’s hand. A slip of paper.

 

"I know you need a place to stay. Now, I think your boys are waiting for you. Don’t wanna keep you up all night with my stories when you’ve still got some to create,” she tells Peggy. “I'm going to Los Angeles next month for a show, see you soon yeah?"

 

Peggy unfolds the paper to see an address and a phone number written in Angie’s familiar chicken scratch.

 

She looks to where Angie's head is turned towards. She sees the boys - _her_ boys - in the booth they were sat in during the show. They’re holding hands and can’t stop smiling and Peggy thinks _yes, Angie, I'll see you soon_.

 

**Welcome to California**

 

After the show, the itinerary said to stop by a motel, for what would be their last time sleeping on this trip, but Bucky is behind the wheel now.

 

"Where are we going?" Peggy asks him from the farthest seat. She's quiet, so her voice doesn't wake up Steve in the middle seat. Steve who's fallen asleep on her shoulder. Sweet, wonderful Steve, a person she knows she's falling for, and she finds herself a bit surprised that this fact doesn't scare her in the slightest.

 

Bucky says nothing, smiling. He knows Peggy will recognise the behavior; he's simply imitating her way of controlling everything that happens in her truck.

 

—

 

They arrive at Salvation Mountain just past 2am. When Peggy sees where they're stopping, she nudges Steve to wake him. He stirs, blinks as he orients himself, and when he realises that they've changed the route, and on top of that gone to see a place he's probably been mentioning in his sleep, Steve's face lights up. The area is still dark, the only light coming from the moon and the headlights on the truck.

 

Without a word or a sound that might disturb the calm of the desert, Peggy, Bucky, and Steve exit the cabin. They arrange their things so they can lie on the truck bed side by side, like nights before. Peggy shuts off the engine as the — _her_ boys get settled. She joins them in the nest they've built, for the tiny family they've become.

 

During the night, they take turns reminiscing about what had happened during their road trip. A broken down car with a naked elderly woman in the driver's seat, while an equally dressed-in-his-birthday-suit elderly man presumably was trying to fix an issue with the engine. A young kid in Provo who'd been walking 20 dogs at the same time, turning the corner right at the wrong moment and bumping into the three teens, instantly getting Steve tangled up in the leads of beings that made him sneeze like no others.

 

Memories they’ve made during the past 10 days fill up their entire present world and while the sun rises over the cracked rocks and dry desert plants, they embark on the last part of their physical journey.

 

**Welcome to Los Angeles**

 

They leave the truck bed to explore Salvation Mountain. Walking hand in hand in hand, silence falls over them as they take in the colours and the messages and praises of love littered all over the rock formations surrounding them.

 

They remain silent when they get back into the truck. Peggy takes the driver’s seat, Steve the passenger side, and Bucky sits in the middle of the two people he loves the most in this world.

 

And as they enter Los Angeles, Peggy drives them towards the address written on the piece of paper Angie had given her.

 

They’re gonna be alright.

 

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you a whole lot for reading !
> 
> This is my first *proper* fic and I appreciate you all so much !
> 
> Thank you to princessoftheworlds for the beautiful art
> 
> Thank you to Dreaming_in_Circles for putting up with my bad writing habits and betaing this story
> 
> Thank you to the RBB for creating this fic exchange


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